Somatic Psychotherapy

A safe, supportive and trauma-informed space for you to process, reconnect and heal through somatic self-exploration

Somatic therapy is a body-based approach to psychotherapy. In this approach we recognise that the mind and body are intimately connected — they are inseparable and always in communication. From this perspective, the body is the foundational point for healing.

What is Somatic Psychotherapy?

Through the lens of somatic therapy, difficult emotions, stress and trauma can become embedded within the body, which can in turn negatively influence your physical, emotional and mental health. Somatic therapy works with the mind and the body - it is a holistic approach that recognises the importance of exploring the relationship between all aspects of wellbeing.

In somatic therapy, we incorporate mind-body awareness to gently uncover, process and release layers of stress, suppressed emotion and trauma stored inside the body that are at the root of illness and addictive patterns. I invite you to cultivate a connection with yourself and to take the steps towards creating healthier beliefs, behaviours, responses and relationships.

Somatic therapy sessions can be booked as single sessions or as a package of 3, 5 or 10.

“There is more wisdom in your body than in your deepest philosophies.”

Friedrich Nietzsche

  • What does a session look like?

    1:1 sessions combine aspects of talk therapy with somatic-based awareness. I invite you to explore sensations, emotions, beliefs and deeply rooted patterns within your body (known as the soma). By shifting out of your head and into your body, you reveal that which lies beneath the surface of your conscious awareness and within your unconscious mind. Somatic therapy sessions offer a calm, connected and trauma-informed container for exploring experiences of disconnection, constriction and collapse. To read more about what somatic-based therapy involves, how it differs from regular talk therapy and the potential benefits, click here to see the frequently asked questions.

  • How does healing happen?

    Healing happens when you feel safe to connect with your experience in the present moment. It is through connecting with ourselves that we can open up to our emotions and our vulnerability. During therapy sessions I compassionately allow space for you to be seen, heard and understood - to reconnect with your inner world. Within this space yo can rediscover and express your truth. This process of self-expression has the power to heal. Through this approach you can release layers of conditioning, reconnect with your essence, create new response patterns, and in doing so, nurture more peaceful ways of relating to yourself and the world.

Somatic Psychotherapy is for you if you want to:

  • Address the roots of difficult emotions, stress, chronic conditions and unprocessed trauma

  • Process and heal patterns of grief, anger, anxiety, fear, depression, shame, guilt, etc.

  • Resolve relational difficulties with regards to trust, attachment, intimacy and security

  • Learn to listen to your body and understand its subtle language

  • Let go of self-limiting beliefs, patterns and stories that no longer serve you

  • Develop a more flexible nervous system and learn simple tools for self-regulation

  • Cultivate more compassionate ways of relating to yourself and others

  • Find a deeper sense of connection, authenticity and balance within yourself

Who can Benefit from Somatic Therapy?

Somatic therapy is beneficial for individuals dealing with a range of concerns, including:

  • Trauma and PTSD: Address and resolve trauma stored in the body.

  • Anxiety and Depression: Process difficult emotions to manage and alleviate symptoms.

  • Chronic Pain: Explore the mind-body connection to reduce physical pain and discomfort.

  • Stress Management: Understand, process and release layers of stress.

Sessions can also be tailored to support you through life transitions, relationship difficulties, burnout, fatigue, addictions, processes relating to cultural identity, the integration of psychedelic experiences, personal development and more.

Four Pillars that Inform my Approach to Somatic Psychotherapy:

Compassionate Inquiry® | Inner Parts Work | Body-Based Practices | Mindfulness

For further information about these pillars, you can click here to read my Wellspring Journal post.

If you would like to know more about whether my approach to somatic therapy will be a good fit for you, you’re welcome to book a free 15 minute connection call. This will give us the opportunity to briefly connect, explore where you are at and to see if I am the right person to support you.

  • Testimonials

    “I have been doing therapy for many years, trying different modalities and techniques hoping to find something that could alleviate my social anxiety and strengthen my mental health. I started working with Joella 8 months ago, and the difference that I feel is profound. Although our sessions are online I feel Joella’s kindness and embracing energy as she holds space for me and my vulnerability each time we sit together. She is always so present and ready to help navigate any situation I am in, teaching me tools which I then incorporate in my day to day. My tool-box is growing and I am so happy to share that I feel more grounded in myself. Joella has so much knowledge, perceptiveness and wisdom. She truly is gifted at seeing and at helping others on their healing journey. Finding Joella renewed my sense of hope that healing is possible. Joella, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for everything that you are and for everything that you do.”

    — Samy

  • Testimonials

    “I’ve been working with Joella over the past 4 months and it’s been pretty clear to me during this time how much I have benefitted from our sessions together. There is a saying about “if you want to see how enlightened you are, go spend a week with your family”… and after going home to spend a week with my family over Christmas (while sharing a house sit with my ex-partner) - I’m so incredibly grateful for and in awe of the work Joella and I have done together. Through our work I have expanded my capacity to navigate uncomfortable feelings and situations, to be present with moments of joy in my life (without anxiety or sabotage), and to express myself in a more authentic way more often. All of which is allowing me to deepen my love for myself and my relationships with others.

    Joella has guided me through gentle enquiry and allowed me to feel seen, heard, and held through the healing of past hurts and complex traumas. Joella is compassionate and warm in her approach. I am beyond grateful for her presence, and for the work she has done in order to hold others in their own process. At the end of each session I am often left in awe, at peace, and filled with appreciation for her and the space she holds for me to heal. Thank you Joella.”

    — Chelsea

  • Testimonials

    “I had a deep calling to work with a somatic therapist to work through some of my childhood trauma, and I by far had chosen the right therapist for exactly that. Joella not only holds such a beautiful and safe space to go deep and to be vulnerable, but she has helped me uncover and understand more about my trauma and patterns where I was able to work through these that has now given me the gift of self compassion, self love and a deeper knowing of self. I highly recommend Joella to anyone who is committed to changing their lives forever and are eager to become a lotus in bloom! Thank you Joella.”

    — Mandy

  • Testimonials

    “Words cannot express how thankful I am for Joella's profoundly transformative work and guidance. As a psychological consultant myself, I have been devoted to understanding my inner world and healing past wounds through various modalities over the past decade. Having worked with Joella for quite some time, I dare say that her presence, compassion and everything that she so beautifully brings forth during our sessions, have led me to unknown levels of self-acceptance and self-love. The safe and nurturing space that she creates online is exceptional and I have rarely felt so seen, held and securely guided through whatever is ready to emerge during our sessions. Dear Joella, you are a gift to this and above all my little world and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your beautiful, healing presence during my journey of embodying and loving all that is truly me in this lifetime. I look so much forward to continuing our work.”

    — Carmen

  • Testimonials

    “I have been working with Joella now for three months and the work she is doing is incredible. I feel very safe and held. It is hard to put in words as it just feels like magic. Her inquiries are so gentle and still so deep. With Joella I feel like I am able to let go as I always feel safe and therefore I can go very deep by becoming more aware of my patterns and beliefs. Since the beginning of these three months, I feel like I have more capacity and spaciousness in my physical and emotional body to integrate and being able to give myself more space to process. I feel that a few tensions/blockages/walls in my body as well as in my mind have shifted and integrated. Thank you. Joella and her work are really just wonderful.”

    — Jessica

  • Testimonials

    “Joella’s presence is so warm and gentle, that immediately I felt safe to share my deepest vulnerabilities with her. Through Compassionate Somatic inquiry Joella so gently explored these overwhelming parts with me and guided me to the root of them. It was such a powerful and eye opening experience. Seeing through unconscious patterns that run my life, and having a deeper understanding and compassion for them is a game changer. Not often before I have felt such a loving space where the emotions flowed easily and so much regulation and integration happened. Thank you Joella, for your love and gentleness and being there every step of the way. Highly recommend to anyone who is on the healing journey and ready to go to the root of suffering and get to know themselves more deeply in a very held and grounded space.”

    — Robine

  • Testimonials

    "Working with Joella has been transformational; since working together on my therapeutic goals I have made many positive changes in my life and it all comes back to the somatic practice of listening to my body. I have been able to focus inward and focus on my growth and expansion with the guidance of Joella who creates a very safe and supportive container for the client to go inward and return to self. I benefit from the knowledge and psychoeducation that Joella shares which provides a very helpful context for me to explore and better understand my behaviors and responses. This is my first time working with a somatic therapist and I feel that it is significantly improving my mental, emotional, and physical health. I appreciate having the opportunity to learn and grow within this framework with the support of a very skilled and supportive therapist."

    — Krista

  • Testimonials

    “Joella is truly gifted in what she does. The space she creates feels safe, compassionate and warm, and I always feel completely held in her presence. She has walked beside me through the most vulnerable time of my life, and working with her has been transformational. With Joella’s guidance and support I have been able to meet and tenderly hold deep parts of myself with love, and transmute pain and fear into compassion and acceptance. Some of the deepest and most fundamental healing of my life. I highly recommend working with her if you feel called.”

    — Sarah

  • Testimonials

    “Joella, I want to deeply thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for the session you so gently and compassionately held for me. I was able to completely surrender and arrive to the most hidden places within myself and turn stuckness into softness. I’m always surprised by the many layers these energies hold; thank you for reminding me it is okay to revisit them. There can always be more to discover, more to unlock. Only with your level of compassion and non-judgement, can we arrive at those places. Thank you for guiding me there.”

    — Andrea

  • Testimonials

    “Sessions with Joella have been so potent and profound to say the least. Joella isn’t just any ordinary psychotherapist. The space she holds is full of unconditional love and deep compassion that is extremely rare. I feel beyond grateful & humbled. While I had many healings occurring throughout our sessions I now also have a much more deepened understanding on my coping mechanisms. Why and how they came about and what to do to dissolve them, practising using these tools in sessions. In many years of therapy and changes of healers and psychotherapists I feel so relieved to have found someone with such wisdom, tools and most importantly the biggest heart.”

    — Shae

  • Testimonials

    “I loved working with Joella. I felt trust because of the way she was present, perceptive, and nonjudgmental; and I am truly impressed how fast we went so deep, while it was also gentle and supportive at the same time. I have gained new, clear and very useful insights about a topic that I have been struggling with for years and discovered practical steps on how to implement them in my life.”

    — Jelena

  • Testimonials

    “Joella’s energy is so soft and gentle it allowed me to fully drop into the space of openness and deep surrender. She created a beautifully nourishing space to hold me in my vulnerability allowing me to fully be with my emotions and thoughts. I highly recommend Joella as a practitioner for people at all levels of their healing journey, she is so skilled at providing what is necessary for where you are within your journey!”

    — Elska

  • Testimonials

    “I wanted to thank for holding space for me, your session had a profound impact on me in the most beautiful and deep way, I felt feelings I had never allowed space to feel before and witnessed my younger self and held her with so much love. The flood gates opened for me after our session and my memories that have been blacked out from my memory have come back. I have had the space to sit with them and feel where they land in my body. This was a very powerful and healing experience. After our session I felt so calm, present and peaceful in my mind, like I was floating but grounded, like I was balanced it was incredible to experience. Joella I am so grateful beyond words for your work, for your soul, for your space, your energy.”

    — Zoe

  • Testimonials

    “My journey with Joella has been most helpful. There have been multiple times in my life where therapy played an important role in my healing process but none were as rewarding as the sessions with Joella. She taught me how to look within, how to move into the depth of my questions and she supported me throughout. I was inspired and in awe of her dedication and willingness to hold space for me. It allowed me to feel safe and go back to painful memories and stories that held power over me from childhood. What I learned with her has permanently changed how I view myself and my healing journey!”

    — Corina

“Being able to feel safe with others people is probably the single most important aspect of mental health; safe connections are fundamental to meaningful and satisfying lives.”

Bessel van der Kolk